The Story

The single malt whiskies released under the Smith’s Angaston label have become highly sought after by Australian whisky fans in recent years. But, unbeknown to many, the origins of these whiskies and the history of the Hill-Smith family’s distilling endeavours at Yalumba go back a long way.

Yalumba was founded in Angaston by English brewer Samuel Smith in 1849. Winemaking became Smith’s primary focus, but distilling was also a valuable outlet for the estate when the Yalumba Still House was constructed in the 1870s. Between 1908-1909, a large pot still was then added for brandy making with the trade growing significantly in scale and consumption at the time.

The distillery was again expanded in 1932 with the original pot being replaced with a 9000 litre still manufactured locally by S.A Copper Works-J. Hoare. Once operational, the family’s records indicate that grain was distilled at the site from the 1930s and 40s onwards, especially from wheat and corn, although exactly what this grain spirit was used for remains unclear.

A second still was added to the site in 1945, built by H. Jennings in Adelaide, and winemaker and distiller Rudi Kronberger made pot still brandy by the classic double distillation technique at Yalumba from 1927 to 1973.

Yalumba’s brandies were highly successful and the decision to release a whisky soon followed. From the 1950s to the early 70s, Samuel Smith & Son sold a product variously branded as Smith’s Whisky, Smith’s Imperial Vat or Smith’s Liqueur Whisky. The whisky was a blend from Gilbey’s Distillery in Melbourne, although there’s speculation that malt whisky stocks from Thebarton Distillery were also in the mix.

As tastes shifted away from dark spirits in the 1980s, distilling ceased at the site. But before retiring in 1973, Rudi passed on his distilling knowledge and skills to successor David Zimmermann, and Yalumba’s Old Pot Still brandies continued to be sold up until the 1990s.

Around that time, managing director, Robert Hill-Smith, took a sabbatical and production director and malt whisky enthusiast Peter Wall briefly took the reins. Remembering the good old days of distilling at Yalumba, Peter thought it would be ‘a bit of fun’ to put a few charges of beer wash through the ageing pot still while the boss was away in 1997.

Samuel Smith & Son were also distributing Scottish single malt as well as Coopers ales and stouts, and they leaned on these two sources for tips to get their whisky experiment underway. Coopers supplied the wash for the initial charge, 17,500 litres, which was mashed and fermented from Tasmanian Franklin barely that had been given a slightly longer roast than normal.

Stillman David took the spirit from these runs and filled it into a mixture of French and American oak hogsheads. These casks, which predominately hailed from Yalumba’s remarkable onsite cooperage, previously held red and white wine as well as apera. Further distillations were performed in 1998 and 2000 before the distillery was all but de-commissioned. Thankfully, the upswing in all things whisky resulted in further distillations being carried out in 2011, 2014, 2017, 2021 and 2024.

The first bottling from these limited distillations was released as an 8 year old in 2007. But since then, 10, 11, 12, 14 and even 18 and 20 year olds have haphazardly been released. There’s no doubt the limited nature of the bottlings has drawn in the collectors, making them difficult to source. But the quality of the whisky is undeniable, and they’re among some of the most flavourful, balanced and refined Australian malt whiskies around.

Particularly significant is the use of casks which previously held table wines – Yalumba were probably the first producer to do this in Australia’s recent distilling history. Award-winning winemaker Kevin Glastonbury is now in charge of the distillation and blending of Smith’s whisky, and his enthusiasm for the project will see further batches released in coming years.